She's never done it before. Why is she doing it now?

That's the question on everyone's lips after viewing the promos featuring a barely clad Tabu in Tinnu Varma's Ma Tujhe Salaam.

The actress in a revealing outfit does one of those cheap dance numbers, luring the villains of the film in a pub.

She hasn't ventured into 'skin' earlier nor even in her latest film, Chandni Bar, a film about bar dancers. We wonder why she agreed for this film.

"Desperation!" says an actress spitefully. If sleaze sells, she'll do it. Perhaps then the commercial filmmakers might consider her for their films.

Mama Sen

She is a party animal. Sushmita Sen loves to boogie all night long.

But Sush's maternal duties always take top priority. Her daughter, Renee, the apple of her eye is bathed, fed, tucked into bed before she leaves the house.

The actress sure has her heart in the right place. Sushmita was to attend a show but had to cancel at the last minute. But she made it a point to return the signing amount and even apologised to the organisers.

Ravs lends a helping hand

Though Raveena Tandon's reputation as a talented actress continues to grow, distributors and financiers are not ready to back a heroine-oriented film with her in the lead.

Ravs, being a savvy girl, was then willing to go to any length for a good role. If it meant helping directors to set up the project, she'd do it.

Tanuja Chandra is a case in point.

When Tanuja narrated a subject to her and specified there was no producer, Raveena used her contacts and got mentor Subroto Roy of Sahara India to back the project.

Now with the clout that Roy yields, it will not be surprising if this power-packed, heroine-oriented film ends up bagging another series of awards in 2002.

Is Manjrekar switching careers?

Director Mahesh Manjrekar loves talking about his films and subjects that he has in mind.

What really gets him enthused is his foray into acting.

While Kaante is still in its final stages of production, Manjrekar is now excited about a role that has been offered to him by another director.

He refuses to name the director or talk about the project as he is superstitious and the project is not yet finalised. Looking at the way his directorial career is progressing (with all his recent films bombing at the BO), he might just have to look at acting as an alternate career profession.

Don't call me Chi Chi!

Ever since he entered the film industry, Govinda has been affectionately nicknamed Chi Chi.

But now, this affectionate name stands in the way of his success. The actor blames his pet name for the bad patch his career is going through.

Apparently an astrologer told him that when pet names were used, "The value and grace of your name diminishes and the stars frown on you."

Thus, in a bid to woo Lady Luck, Govinda now wants to stick to his original name.